Typography Flashcards
Aperture
a counter or aperture is an area entirely or partially enclosed by a letter form or a symbol (the counter-space/ the hole of).
Arm
A horizontal or upward, sloping stroke that does not connect to a stroke or stem on one or both ends.
Ascender
An upward vertical stroke found on the part of lowercase letters that extends above the typeface’s x-height.
Beak
A beak is a type of decorative stroke at the end of the arm of a letter, connected to the arm by the terminal.
Bowl
The fully closed, rounded part of a letter.
Bracketed Serif
The bracket is a curved or wedge-like connection between the stem and serif of some fonts. Not all serifs are bracketed serifs.
Counter
The open space in a fully or partly closed area within a letter.
Cross bar
The (usually) horizontal stroke across the middle of uppercase A and H
Cross stroke
The horizontal stroke across the stem of a lowercase t or f is a cross stroke.
Crotch
An acute, inside angle where two strokes meet.
Descender
The part of the letters that extends below the baseline.
Ear
A small stroke extending from the upper-right side of the bowl of lowercase g; also appears in the angled or curved lowercase r.
Hairline
a hairline is the thinnest stroke found in a specific typeface that consists of strokes of varying widths.
Head Serif
Top starting point of the letterform
Leg
The lower, down sloping stroke of the K and k is called a leg.
Link
A stroke that connects the top and bottom bowls of lowercase double-story g’s.
Loop
The enclosed or partially enclosed counter below the baseline of a double-story g.
San Serif
A typeface with no serifs
Serif
A stroke added as a stop to the beginning and end of the main strokes of a character.
Shoulder
The curved stroke aiming downward from a stem.
Spine
The main curved stroke of a lowercase or capital S.
Spur
A small projection off a main stroke.
Stem
Vertical, full-length stroke in upright characters.
Stroke
A straight or curved diagonal line.
